Spring break has come and gone, and with students back on campus, this weekend brought Buggy back to CMU! After a few weeks off for weather and Spring Break, this weekend brought warmer weather on Saturday…and then a rain storm early Sunday morning that caused Rolls to be cancelled (only to be filled with sunshine throughout the rest of the day). But it wasn’t just the buggies that had been rolling before Spring Break that were out. We saw a few brand new buggies make their debuts, as well as a couple of older buggies making their return to the course for the first time this year.

This picture-filled Rolls Report is brought to you by…the fact that no one uploaded photos to our gallery. Please upload them if you have them!

• Road Updates, Part 1. The City of Pittsburgh decided to take advantage of CMU’s Spring Break to make some changes to the roads around campus, which of course double as the buggy course. If you recall, Raceday has been down to 2 lanes since 2022 due to construction of the new Highmark Wellness Center. During Spring Break, the City of Pittsburgh Water and Sewage patched a portion of Hill 1 that had some sinkhole elements, but while that patch may work for cars, it has made Lane 1 (and the temporary drops location) largely unusable for buggies. Because of this, Sweepstakes originally planned to ask CMU to push back the construction barricades on the Lane 3 side of the road to allow Lanes 2 and 3 to be used for Raceday, but upon further inspection, Lane 3 appears to be in even worse shape. So Sweepstakes is currently planning on re-patching Lane 1. Stay tuned.

Pittsburgh: City of Bridges Sinkholes

• Road Updates, Part 2. The Hill 1 patch wasn’t the only change though. After installing bollards to separate the bike lane on the Backhills over the Summer, the City of Pittsburgh took Spring Break to extend those bollards…into the Chute. The good news is that this change was expected and that Sweepstakes was prepared (and they had been coordinating with CMU and the BAA since the Fall); the bad news is that it originally wasn’t planned to take place until this Summer. Nonetheless, Sweepstakes put their plan into motion, with teams now responsible for removing the bollards and putting in the same bollard caps that have been used in the Freeroll for years as part of their morning chores. Because of the unknown effect that these bollards/caps would have on buggies in the Chute, Sweepstakes initially required teams to roll their buggies bagged in the early rolls on Saturday. But after drivers all reported back that there were no issues or concerns, Rolls resumed as normal and teams went back to normal speeds.

How many bike lanes are there?

• Push Practice Update. Another impact of Spring Break ending – Push Practices are back! The first push practice is taking place on Monday, but with the changes to Frew Street this year, there are also some new push practice guidelines. With cars parking on both sides of the road and the new bike lane, Sweepstakes is now formally closing the backhills from 11pm-1am each night. Of course, this means that no parking signs are required and a new barricading process, but it might make push practice a little more productive than it’s been in the past.

We would post a picture of Push Practice, but it’s so dark at night that it would just be a black square

• Apex. Apex was out with two buggies on Saturday, with Firefly getting some more rolls in and Phoenix making its Spring debut. After getting 1 roll for each buggy, Apex attempted to have Firefly pass Phoenix to qualify. Unfortunately, something happened to Phoenix and the buggy did not make the first turn after the Hill 2 push, causing the buggy to hit the curb. Both driver and buggy were unharmed, so Apex sent Firefly down for its own roll. On the last roll of the day, Apex partnered with Fringe to get another roll in, with both teams cheering the buggies and pushers up Hill 5.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Firefly – With Firefly unable to get the pass test this weekend, veteran driver Brooklyn remains just a pass test away from qualifying.
    • Phoenix – Phoenix picked up its first roll of the Spring for veteran driver Mia, but still needs 5 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify.
    • Solaris – Although it didn’t come out this weekend, veteran driver Maggie still needs just 2 rolls (including a pass test) in Solaris to qualify.
    • Scorch – Rookie driver Bella needs 3 remaining rolls (including a pass test) in Scorch, which was not out this weekend.
    • Molotov – Molotov hasn’t been seen yet this semester (and it has not yet caped), but if it does make its return, veteran driver Mia would only need 5 rolls (including a pass test) in this one.

Since we don’t have actual photos, here’s n image from Google’s Gemini of a buggy owned by Apex

• CIA. After taking the prior weekend off, CIA was back out this week with three buggies – Emperor, Kingfisher, and their new buggy, Goldfinch! Emperor only got 1 roll in on the day, while Kingfisher and Goldfinch each got 2 due to the shorter length of daylight and some stops from other teams. The rolls went well, and Kingfisher even got a pass test in, passing Goldfinch! Since we don’t have a photo here yet, we’ll pass along that Goldfinch is described as a hybrid of several other CIA buggies – the large wheels of Emperor, the pushbar placement of Kingfisher, and the curved handle of Roadrunner. There’s also a rumor that CIA may have used a female mold for their new build, so maybe they’ve locked in on an ideal structural design. Goldfinch was reported as being slightly slower than the other 2 buggies, but with one being the buggy’s first roll and one being the receiving end of a pass test, this isn’t unexpected.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Kingfisher – With 2 rolls and a pass test Saturday, Kingfisher is well on its way to qualifying, as veteran driver Audrey needs just 3 regular rolls to qualify.
    • Emperor – This weekend was rookie driver Kaylan‘s first roll in Emperor this semester, but with the full 8 roll carryover from the Fall, they will need just 6 more rolls (including a pass test) to qualify.
    • Goldfinch – With its debut on Saturday, Goldfinch is getting a bit of a late start in qualifying, but with veteran driver Lucy aboard, CIA only needs 8 more rolls for its 2024 build.
    • Equinox – Equinox has not yet been seen this semester, but veteran driver Jazz has already caped and has the max carryover from the Fall (which is just 5 of the 33 that Equinox had). So Jazz will only need 5 rolls in Equinox over the next 3 weeks (including a pass test) in order to qualify.
    • Roadrunner – Like Equinox, Roadrunner hasn’t been seen yet this semester, but rookie driver Amber has passed capes and has the full 8 roll carryover (from a massive 50 in the Fall), so only 7 rolls (including a pass test) are needed for Roadrunner to give CIA 5 Raceday buggies.

Thanks to CIA, we have this photo of Goldfinch on the Backhills

• DG. DG was back out and cruising along on Saturday, being one of the few teams to get 3 rolls in on the day. Not only did they get 3 rolls in for Insite, but they were moving pretty quickly – reports are that DG had the second best rollouts of the day (and they may have been practicing their wheel prep).
  • Qualification Update:
    • Insite – With 3 rolls on Saturday, veteran driver Ines has the minimum number of rolls needed for Raceday, and now just needs a pass test in order to qualify.

Here’s Insite entering the Chute, according to Craiyon.

• Fringe. Fringe continued their uneventful Rolls with 3 buggies on Saturday, with one exception – B**** has made its debut! Yes, Fringe was the other team that debuted a new 2024 build on the course this week, though as is their tradition, we don’t know the name of it yet. Reports are that it looks like…well, it looks like every other Fringe build. The good news is that visually, it appeared to be rolling a bit faster than both Burnout and Brimstone did when they debuted in 2022 and 2023, respectively. And more good news for Fringe – Baltic completed its pass test, successfully passing the new build. The new build got 3 rolls in on the day, while Baltic and Blueshift each got 2.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Baltic – With 2 rolls including a pass test on Saturday, Baltic is well on its way to qualifying with rookie driver Abbey. Abbey needs just 2 more regular rolls to qualify for Raceday.
    • Blueshift – Blueshift has been killing it at Rolls this Spring, and its 8 rolls this semester are the most for a non-Spirit buggy. Thanks to that and 7 rolls carried over from the Fall, rookie driver Freda appears to need only a pass test to qualify.
    • NB2024 – NB2024’s first 3 rolls this weekend put rookie driver Arini on the road to qualifying, and since Arini also has 12 rolls in Brimstone (of which 11 count towards qualification), Arini should need just 7 more rolls in NB2024 (including a pass test) to qualify.
    • Burnout – Burnout hasn’t been out since the first weekend of Spring, but with 4 rolls in on that day, rookie driver Winona needs just 3 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify.
    • Brimstone – Brimstone has been out once this semester, with rookie driver Arini hopping aboard for 3 rolls, and because of Arini’s 3 rolls in NB2024, it looks like it would only require 2 rolls (including a pass test) for Arini to be qualified in Brimstone. But it’s not just Arini – veteran driver Kyrsten is caped in Brimstone and has a full carryover from the fall, meaning Kyrsten needs just 5 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify in Brimstone as well.
    • Bumper – Bumper has reportedly caped, but we haven’t seen the buggy this year, so rookie driver Abbey (who has been aboard Baltic) would need the full set of rolls for us to see this 2018 build on Raceday.

Fringe’s new buggy is so secretive that we don’t even have a photo! (But seriously – if you were at Rolls and have photos, please upload them!)

• PiKA. PiKA was out at Rolls this weekend, but unfortunately, things did not go well. On Banshee’s first roll, a driver vision issue resulted in the buggy crashing into the curb near the Transition Flag. The crash caused what appeared to be pretty significant damage to the buggy, and resulted in a 15-20 delay in rolls while the driver was being checked out by EMS. Eventually, the driver was extracted and went to urgent care for some follow up. We wish the driver a speedy recovery.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Banshee – With the crash this weekend, we’re not sure about the status of Banshee for Raceday. Rookie driver Su Mae had 12 rolls in Banshee in the Fall, of which 8 can carry over, so with 2 rolls in Raptor back in February, Su Mae would only need 5 more (including a pass test) to qualify in Banshee.
    • Raptor – Raptor has been the most frequent participant for PiKA at rolls this year, with 4 drivers all getting rolls in the buggy. Rookie drivers Kaylie and Vi each have the maximum carryover of 8 rolls from the Fall, meaning they would need 7 in the Spring (including a pass test) to qualify. Rookie driver Cat had 5 rolls in the Spring, which would require 10 in the Spring (including a pass test) to qualify. Lastly, Su Mae picked up 2 rolls in Raptor in February, but with none in the Fall, Su Mae would need 8 in Raptor (including a pass test) to qualify.
    • Cleona – Cleona only made 1 appearance at Rolls this year, back on September 23, and it never completed the course, so any of PiKA’s drivers would need at least 10 rolls in Cleona in order to qualify.

PiKA didn’t complete any rolls, so we don’t have any photos.

• Robobuggy. Robobuggy brought out not one, but two, robotic buggies this weekend, as they tried to get Short Circuit to complete a robotic pass test. But instead of writing my own recap, I’ll turn it over to Robobuggy member Delaynie, whose write-up is far better than anything I could come up with: “After stepping back and letting Short Circuit take the spotlight last spring, NAND has returned to the buggy course, accompanying Short Circuit on a lap around the course, both buggies having hands on pushbar the whole time. Short Circuit, autonomously controlled, successfully passed NAND (who was teleoperated) three times! After that, Short Circuit completed another roll, this time with no hands on pushbar during freeroll and a decent hill 2 shove. This roll was completed semi-autonomously with manual intervention when it came in danger of hitting the curb. Stay tuned to see more autonomous buggy passes at higher speeds!”

This photo, posted by a time traveler in the BAA Discord, is the only proof of the upcoming AI revolution

• SDC. SDC had a bit of an up-and-down day at Rolls. They had a couple of debuts on Saturday – a new driver, and a return to the course for Inferno for the first time this year. The new driver in Avarice successfully made it around the course the first time, but the second time through, the driver took the Chute turn a bit too wide and ended up brushing the outer haybales. Both driver and buggy were unharmed and cleared to roll again, but SDC decided to pass on Avarice’s last roll of the day. Meanwhile, Inferno and Vice shared a driver for the day, with each completing one roll. Reports are that these two buggies were showing the best rollouts of the day. On Inferno’s second roll of the day (SDC’s third time through the roll order), however, vision issues leading up to the Stop Sign caused the driver to hit the brakes and come to a controlled stop. Neither buggy nor driver were negatively impacted, but at that point it was the end of Rolls. The biggest news coming out of SDC, however, is the reveal of their new buggy! After years of clamoring by alumni, SDC finally made the brilliant, obvious, and best decision to paint their new buggy metallic pink, and name it Lust. It wasn’t out at Rolls on Saturday, but it is caped and ready to go and we look forward to seeing it roll soon.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Vice – With the roll on Saturday, rookie driver Elizabeth is now just a pass test away from qualifying in Vice.
    • Inferno – Double-dipping on Saturday, rookie driver Elizabeth also got a roll in on Inferno. Because of the rolls in Vice (as well as 26 fall rolls in Avarice), Elizabeth has met the overall roll requirement, but the buggy-driver combo still needs 9 rolls (including a pass test) this Spring in order to qualify.
    • Avarice – Rookie driver Sabikun got her first roll in Avarice on Saturday, but she’ll still need 14 more to qualify. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has a max carryover from the Fall, meaning that she would only need 5 in Avarice in order to qualify. Though we would expect that her focus is more on Vice/Inferno.
    • Bane – Bane wasn’t out this week, but rookie driver Ezrin has 2 rolls in the buggy from earlier in the Spring. With 13 rolls in Vanity in the Fall (of which 8 can carry over), Ezrin would just need 8 more rolls (including a pass test) in the Spring to be qualified in Bane.
    • Vanity – We haven’t seen Vanity yet this semester, and it doesn’t appear to have caped yet this Spring so it doesn’t seem to be Plan A for SDC. But if it does reappear, rookie driver Ezrin would only need 7 rolls (including a pass test) in order to qualify in the buggy.
    • Lust – Lust hasn’t been on the course yet, so it will need at least 10 rolls to qualify once it makes its debut.

Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me creature of the night

• SigEp. It’s always great to see SigEp back out on the course with 2 buggies, as both Kraken and Hydra were on the course. And as will be a common theme for these last few orgs, we heard literally nothing about them this weekend – which is bad for the Rolls Report, but good for the team. It means that everything went smoothly (at least from the outside), which is good as Kraken picked up 3 rolls and Hydra added 1 to its total.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Hydra – Rookie driver Mia has been out at Rolls every day this semester, and with the 1 additional roll this weekend, Mia is just 2 rolls (including a pass test) away from qualifying in Hydra.
    • Kraken – Rookie driver Lucy took the wheel for Kraken this weekend, and brought their total up to 8 for the year. This leaves just 7 rolls (including a pass test) for Lucy to qualify in Kraken.

Here’s SigEp’s Kraken crossing the finish line, according to Deepai

• SigNu. SigNu swapped buggies from the prior Rolls and was out with Jaeger this weekend. And much like SigEp, no news is good news, as Jaeger completed the course twice. We don’t have anything else to report, but it’s an important step towards getting 2 buggies to Raceday.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Jaeger – Rookie driver Lian had 7 rolls in Jaeger in the Fall, and with 2 more today, they are just 6 rolls (including a pass test) away from qualifying for Raceday.
    • Krait – Krait wasn’t out this weekend, but rookie driver Alyssa got 2 rolls in back in February. That leaves 13 more rolls for the buggy-driver pair, which is a lot, but there’s still several more weeks of Rolls, which is more than enough time to get those 13 in.

SigNu’s Jaeger travels enters the Chute, ignoring the “Wrong Way” sign

• Spirit. Spirit has quietly been having the most successful Rolls of any team at CMU. They were back out this weekend with all 4 of their buggies, maintaining their Roll Count lead across all organizations. And like SigEp and SigNu, we heard nothing about them. So we can only assume that their 2 turns through the roll order were without issue.
  • Qualification Update:
    • Mapambazuko – Rookie driver Nanz leads the clubhouse with 10 rolls in Zuke this Spring, and when you combine that with the 8 carryover rolls from the Fall (out of 35 total), Nanz is just a pass test away from qualifying in Zuke.
    • Seraph – Veteran driver Natalie split the duties in Seraph on February 24, and because of that, Natalie trails their org-mate by 1, with 9 rolls in Seraph this Fall. That doesn’t even include the 36 fall rolls, but with the rolls this Spring, only a pass test is needed for Natalie to qualify in Seraph. Meanwhile, rookie driver Emily got those 2 other rolls on February 24, so with that, Emily would be 13 rolls away from also qualifying in Seraph.
    • Kingpin – Rookie driver Ivania picked up another 2 rolls this weekend, bringing the Spring total to 4. When added to the 8 carried over from the Spring (out of 18 in total), Ivania needs just 3 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify.
    • Inviscid – Similar to Kingpin, veteran driver Melina now has 3 rolls in Inviscid this Spring, plus 5 carried over (out of 18 total) from the Fall. With those numbers, Melina needs just 2 rolls (including a pass test) to qualify for Raceday.

Spirit’s 4 buggies being walked up Hill 1, according to Dezgo/Dreamweaver

• Others. No one else was at Rolls this week, but since there are only 6 possible days of Rolls remaining and we’re on our way to qualifying buggies, we thought it would be helpful to provide an update for those who weren’t out. Qualification Update: Frontier was the only team that has rolled this year that wasn’t on the course this weekend. They’re still a ways away from qualifying, with their rookie driver Bee still needing 14 rolls and their veteran driver Carleigh still needing 6. But they’ve got a few more weeks to get it done. Meanwhile, the rumor mill is abuzz with the return of an org that hasn’t been on the course yet this decade. We’ll leave that as a surprise until they actually appear at Rolls, but suffice it to say with a new driver, they’ll still need 15 rolls over these last 6 possible days to get their buggy and driver qualified.

Here’s a sneak peek at the organization making their return – see if you can ID them from the photo (haha, just kidding…we don’t have any photos. Please, for the love of Buggy, upload photos to our gallery!